Stay With Me
by abbygrrl29
Summary: They finished the case; the danger is supposed to be over. But now she's fighting for her life and I'm holding on to her hand like it's going to keep her from letting go.
1. Chapter 1

**Just something I thought of. Don't hate me too much; the story isn't over. Reviews would be great :)**

**Disclaimer-I don't own anything but my weird imagination**

"You okay?"

JJ turns her head to face her friend, snapping out of a daze, "Yeah." She forces a smile and looks back out of the window as they drive through a slight fog on an empty road. They had just finished a case and she, Emily and Reid were on their way back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

A truck turns into the same lane the SUV is driving in and cuts in front of them.

"Jerk." Emily mutters. She then looks at the rear view mirror and notices Reid with his eyes closed, his head leaning against the window on her side of the car.

"He can fall asleep anywhere, can't he?" She says with a small smile as she grips the steering wheel.

JJ laughs not looking away from the window, "Lucky him." she mutters.

"I don't think I've ever been this excited to crawl into bed." The brunette says softly with a sigh.

JJ looks at her again, "Tough case," she says simply.

And it was. Four bodies; family annihilator; Dad lost touch of reality after an accident and took it out on his three kids and his wife. Case after case, it doesn't get any easier.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Emily asks again.

The blonde nods again and leans her head back against the seat, "I'm just tired...missing my boys like crazy."

Emily nods in understanding, "How are they doing?" she asks, "With you coming back?"

JJ lets out a sigh, "It's hard on all of us. Will says he isn't mad about it but I can tell it still upsets him."

"Understandable."

The two women hear Reid stirring in the back seat and JJ looks back, "We're almost there Spence." she says, smiling.

Reid lets out a yawn, "Did I fall asleep?" he asks.

The two let out a small laugh. "I'm just glad we have our own rooms for this case." Emily says, looking back at Spencer.

The three drive in silence for a while and Emily checks the time on the dashboard that reads 1:00am

"I don't like being behind this truck." She mumbles as she turns on her left turn signal and turns her head to look at her blind spot.

All of a sudden, she catches sight of the truck again pulling in front of the SUV.

"Em!" JJ screams out.

Emily jerks the wheel to the left harshly to avoid hitting the truck and drives the SUV into the thick number of trees.

Emily opens her eyes and she feels white hot pain shoot through her left leg. She notices the pile of branches and leaves on her lap and sees JJ's figure next to her, her head facing the window.

"Reid?" She manages, feeling blood trickle down the side of her face.

"I'm okay."

Emily lets out a sigh of relief as she hears her friend in the back seat. Instantly, she manages to get her door open and she limps to open Reid's door.

"I can get out, I can get out." Reid says painfully, pushing away branches off of him. "Check on JJ."

Emily nods, panic setting in her chest as she notices Reid's cut up arms and face. She runs around the SUV to JJ's side and opens the door. She feels her stomach drop when she sees a branch the size of her arm protruding from her friend's side.

"JJ..."

Emily notices the blonde's eyes fluttering open and wincing in pain. On instinct, Emily places a hand on JJ's arm.

"Em..."

"Reid, call 911, now!" Emily shouts, her gaze not leaving JJ.

Reid runs to Emily's side and sees the state their friend is in. The younger man swallows the hard lump in his throat and scrambles to take his phone out of his pocket.

"There's been an accident on Highway 401...we're along the side of the road...an FBI agent is badly hurt..."

Emily hears Reid talking to the dispatcher and she kneels down next to JJ's side, gripping her friend's hand in hers.

"Call Hotch." She mutters to Reid but still looking at JJ. "Just stay with me okay, Jayje?"

"Are you guys okay?" The blonde asks, and Emily can see more red enveloping JJ's white blouse.

Emily nods, biting her lower lip to stifle a sob, "We're fine, just focus on me, okay? Just stay awake for me."

Reid painfully watches his two friends as he holds the phone to his ear waiting for his Unit Chief to answer.

* * *

><p>"Hotchner."<p>

"Hotch, there's been an accident."

The older man sits up straighter in the passenger seat, "What happened?"

Rossi glances away from the road for a moment to look at Aaron and Morgan sits at the edge of the seat in the back noticing his boss' tone.

"We're on our way...did you call an ambulance?...Stay put, we're coming."

"They're at the side of the road, JJ's hurt badly." He says after hanging up the phone.

Rossi nods and pushes his foot harder onto the gas pedal.

* * *

><p>"I'm gunna get closer to the road so they'll be able to see." Reid manages, trying to ignore the sharp pain shooting through his entire body and the sharp ache in his chest from watching JJ slip in and out of consciousness. It had been fifteen minutes and the cool mist has turned into rain drops soaking everything around them within seconds.<p>

"Don't leave okay?" JJ whispers softly and Emily nods, muttering a small "I promise". She notices more blood with every beat of JJ's heart.

The brunette looks at the branch sticking out of her friend and grips JJ's hand a bit tighter.

"I don't feel it much anymore." JJ says softly, noticing Emily's gaze. She closes her eyes and Emily leans into the car more feeling her chest tightening up again.

"Jayje, please stay awake." She's pleading now, her face wet and she doesn't know whether it's blood, rain or tears. "I can hear the ambulance, stay with me, JJ."

JJ manages to make a small movement with her head, "I'm just really tired." she says softly and the grip on Emily's hand loosened.

"Jennifer!"

She feels a hand on her shoulder and at first she ignores it, trying to wake up her friend, but she turns around and sees a paramedic. She hears him say a few words, telling her to get out of the way; that she needs to make room for them to help JJ. But she promised she wouldn't leave so she held on to her friend's hand until she feels a pair of arms pulling her away and she turns her face to see Derek. Finally she feels JJ's hand leave hers as they pull her away on a stretcher.

Emily lets Derek wrap his arms around her and suddenly she feels sick and the last thing she remembers is the sound of Derek's voice calling her name and the rest goes black.

**Hope you guys like so far! I've got more coming since it's the weekend. Thanks for reading babes! **


	2. Chapter 2

**So this is what I thought of first. And then I thought of something else. It's up to you guys to let me know whether or not I should post the alternate anyway for you. Don't hold back, I wanna know what you think. Oh yeah, and clearly this is going to more than a two shot.**

Emily flutters her eyes open and she feels a dull pain pounding at her temple. She manages to move her head to get a better look at her surroundings. She notices she's lying on a bed; warm sheets on top of her. She lifts up an arm to put a hand on her aching head and notices an IV. She notices the machines around her.

And then she remembers. The truck, screeching tires and JJ's voice.

_Oh my God...JJ..._

"You're awake."

Emily looks up, maybe too quickly and closes her eyes to ride out the throbbing pain. She recognizes Derek's voice.

"Where's JJ? And Reid?" She croaks out, managing to open her eyes again to see her friend standing beside the bed with a coffee in hand.

"They're just finishing up Reid's stitches. He'll be fine." Derek says softly.

"And JJ?"

The older man lets out a sigh.

Emily begins to feel that pain in her chest again, "Derek, where's JJ?"

"She's still in surgery." He says simply.

Emily looks at him and she can feel the wet tears running down her face but she's too exhausted to even wipe them away.

"So you haven't heard anything?" She asks, her eyes focused on the ceiling above her now.

"She lost a lot of blood, Prentiss. She's been in there for almost three hours."

Emily shuts her eyes tightly. If she could have just looked ahead a split second sooner; if she never tried to switch lanes...if she could have just been the one on the passenger seat instead of JJ...

"Emily..."

The brunette looks up at her friend, and Derek notices the sense of guilt and pain through Emily's eyes.

"This wasn't your fault." He says softly, taking her hand into his, "Don't think for a second that you could have stopped this."

"But I could have...I could have done something..." She whimpers and a familiar pain shoots through her but she knew it wasn't the gash on her head or sprained knee.

"You need to rest, Princess." Derek says softly, "You have to take it easy right now, alright?"

Emily nods, too exhausted to protest. She closes her eyes again and immediately drifts into sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Derek walks back into the waiting room to see Rossi sitting in one of the chairs and Hotch pacing back and forth.

"Anything about JJ?" Derek asks.

Hotch shakes his head, and looks back down to his feet as he paces.

"What did Will say?"

"He's taking the first flight out here. I told him to drop off Henry with Jessica and Jack."

"Derek!"

The three men look towards the sliding doors to see Penelope walking rapidly towards them.

"Where are they? How are my babies?"

"They're just running some tests on Reid to make sure everything's okay." Hotch manages.

"And my girls?" Penelope asks, her eyes glimmering with tears.

"Emily's resting, she has a concussion, hurt her knee pretty badly..." Derek manages, letting out a small sigh.

"What about JJ?"

"Jennifer Jareau?"

They all look back to see JJ's surgeon walking towards them, pulling off his cap and holding it tightly in his hands.

"How is she?" Hotch asks.

"She lost a lot of blood but we got control of the bleeding from the branch impaling her side." The doctor says, "But the impact caused moderate brain damage."

"So what does that mean? Is she going to be okay?" Penelope asks, her voice shaking.

"The scan showed epidural hematoma which means there was bleeding between the inside of the skull and the outer covering of the brain. We're going to be expecting seizures and post traumatic amnesia when she wakes up."

"So when should we expect her to wake up?" Derek asks.

"It's hard to say with brain injury like this, she could be up in an hour or she could wake up in twenty four."

They all nod in acknowledgement.

"I suggest you just let her rest for a few hours and I'll have the nurse notify you when you can see her."

The doctor walks away with an apologetic look on his face as the team takes in what they had just heard.

"I need to see Emily." Penelope says softly.

Hotch nods to Derek, "We'll be right here to wait for Reid."

Derek takes Penelope's hand to lead her into their friend's room and Derek breathes in deeply, knowing they're going to be the ones to break the news to one of his bes friends.

**Should I post the alternate continuation? lol reviews would be incredible guys, thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3alternate

**You guys have been amazing with following the story and the reviews and the favourites and I appreciate it so much! **

**So here's the alternate...with this version, i'll probably end it here just cuz there isn't much to go on unless I just go through how the team deals. So let me know what you think about which version I should keep going on. Thanks again for all the wonderful words!**

Emily flutters her eyes open and she feels a dull pain pounding at her temple. She manages to move her head to get a better look at her surroundings. She notices she's lying on a bed; warm sheets on top of her. She tries to move, maybe too quickly and she closes her eyes to ride out the throbbing pain. For a second, panic kicks in because she doesn't know where the hell she is.

And then she remembers. The truck, screeching tires and JJ's voice.

_Oh my God…JJ…_

"You're awake."

She recognizes Penelope's voice.

"Where's JJ? And Reid?" She croaks out, managing to open her eyes again to see her friend sitting beside the bed; Hotch and Derek standing at the foot of the bed and Rossi sitting on a chair by the door.

"They're just finishing up Reid's stitches. He'll be fine." Derek says softly.

"And JJ?"

Silence fills the room.

"Where is JJ?" she tries to sound more forceful but it comes out in a whimper.

For the first time, Emily notices tears running down Penelope's face and a pain much greater than the gash on her head and the cuts and bruises on her body, shoots through her heart and she realizes that it's becoming more difficult to breathe.

"She didn't make it, Em." Penelope manages, "I'm so sorry."

"No…No…"

Emily feels the sting of tears forming in her eyes and with no build up, she dissolves in body wracking tears.

* * *

><p>"Emily?" The brunette looks away from the setting sun and sees Will standing behind her carrying a sleeping Henry in his arms, "Mind if I join you?"<p>

She forces a smile as she adjusts her crutches so they are both looking out into the beautiful sunset before them. It almost angers her that the weather that day had been completely perfect; today was the funeral and the sun was shining down on their tear streaked faces as they lowered her casket into the ground.

"She woulda loved this." Will begins as he looks out into the horizon and Henry stirs in his arms. Emily notices him place a soft kiss on his son's blonde hair and she begins to feel that lump in her throat beginning to form.

She nods, silence on her end.

"Are you holding up alright?" He asks, and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew that it was a stupid, pointless question. Are any of them holding up alright?

Will turns to face her and he realizes the tears that are now brimming the brunette's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Will." She says softly, finally looking at him. The two haven't talked since Will got to the hospital in that night. She was afraid to even see him; she was afraid that he would be angry and she was afraid to see him break down after finding out that the love of his life has been taken away from him….because of her.

Will shakes his head, "It wasn't your fault Emily." He says softly and Emily wants to protest because she needed somebody to blame for what happened to her best friend but instead, she bites her lower lip to keep from sobbing.

"JJ really loved you, you know." He continues, "When you left, I could tell that pieces of her went along with you…you were her best friend." She's crying now, tears running down her face and she can feel her body numbing from the sobs. "She would never want to see you blame yourself for something you had no control over." He hears Emily breathe in deeply and he puts a hand on her shoulder.

Emily puts a hand on top of his and she shakes her head, "I just….I don't know what to do from here. Every second that I'm breathing and JJ isn't…I can't…"

Will nods, acknowledging the pure hurt and pain in Emily's eyes. He knows that there aren't any words that can lessen the blow and for right now, maybe that's okay. The little boy in his arms slowly adjusts himself and Will looks at his son that resembles JJ's so much that he hates to admit that it makes his heart ache, but he holds Henry just a bit tighter desperate to feel JJ's presence around him.

Emily notices the tears that are now running down Will's face and she tries to ignore the all too familiar ache in her chest. She closes her eyes and lets the cool wind dry her face. _I'm so sorry Jayje…I'm so sorry I let you down…_

Despite the cool wind blowing against them, Emily feels a warmth she hasn't felt since that night. She feels a warm sensation around her shoulders and she lets out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

She looks over at Will, "Let's go inside." She says softly and Will nods. She forces a smile and braces for the next wave of grief and loss to come over her as she walks into the hall where the rest of her team is waiting and pretending that it's all going to be okay; that everything will go back to normal…when in reality the new normality will be the gap that JJ's left; the feeling of emptiness and loss from that day on.


End file.
